KARMA TO BURN Bassist Talks New Album – By The Numbers

West Virginia’s Karma to Burn may be living in Los Angeles, but by no means have they lost their back to basics, Appalachian jam-band style. The traditionally instrumental trio, bassist Rich Mullins, drummer Rob Oswald, and guitarist Will Mecum, are set to release their newest opus stoner, V, this month. That’s five in Roman numerals, for those counting, because this is the trio’s fifth studio album, for those confused by the new math. And with K2B the math can get confusing. They recorded the last album as a 3-piece, added a second guitarist, and vocalist, recorded the album as a quartet, and are set to release it as an instrumental trio. Confused? Let’s not even talk about the song titles…

Like the rest of the band’s catalog, this new masterpiece will appeal to fans of bands like Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Clutch. The band’s cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Never Say Die” which they recorded for Metal Hammer, is represented here.

This is K2B’s second release on Napalm Records, and it’s also the second album since they returned from their seven-year, get-clean-of-the-heroin-and-other toxic-soul-depleting-addictions hiatus after releasing 2001’s Almost Heathen. Like much of their previous work, the record pays tribute to simplicity. In this case however, that happens to be a very good thing. V is laced with catchy but heavy jams that remain in your head even without lyrics to sing along with. True to form, all of the instrumental tracks on this record are titled with numbers. The three tracks that have worded titles include vocals contributed by Daniel Davies (Year Long Disaster). Vwas produced by John Lousteau in Studio 606, which happens to belong to none other than Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Probot, Them Crooked Vultures).

Metalholic recently sat down with Mullins to talk about recording his band’s newest fifth stoner epic. In the process subjects such as the music industry, and an interesting incident involving some killer wasps were touched on. The new album hits stores on May 27th.